alley

Plural: alleys

Noun

• A narrow passageway between or behind buildings.
• a narrow street with walls on both sides
• a lane down which a bowling ball is rolled toward pins
• A narrow street or passageway, especially one through the middle of a block giving access to the rear of lots of buildings.
• The area between the outfielders.
• An establishment where bowling is played.
• An elongated wooden strip of floor along which a bowling ball is rolled.
• The extra area between the sidelines or tramlines on a tennis court that is used for doubles matches.
• A walk or passage in a garden or park, bordered by rows of trees or bushes.
• A passageway between rows of pews in a church.
• Any passage having the entrance represented as wider than the exit, so as to give the appearance of length.
• The space between two rows of compositors' stands in a printing office.
• A group of clowns; the collective noun for clowns.
• A marble (small ball used in games).

Examples

• He hit one deep into the alley.
• She found a narrow alley on the board to sneak in her word.
• The parking lot to my friend's apartment building is in the alley.

Synonyms

alleyway, back street, bowling alley, skittle alley, alley, backs, bunnyrun, chare, chore, close, ennog, entry, fold, gangway, gant, gap, gennel, ginnel, gitty, gully, gullyway, gunnel, hocket, jennel, jigger, jitty, lane, laneway, loke, passage, pend, rabbit run, shut, snickelway, snicket, tenfoot, twitchel, twitten, vennel, wynd